The Community Development Finance Association (CDFA) has been awarded a £30m grant, and a £30m loan from two high-street banks, as part of the first funding round from the government’s £1.4bn Regional Growth Fund scheme.

The £60m in funding will be over three-years. A CDFA spokesman said the £30m in funding from the banks was still being structured, but he said it would be “a loan of some sort”.

The investment, which is CDFA's largest-ever funding award, will be used to support the financing and growth of community development finance institutions (CDFIs), which provide loans to organisations and individuals who are unable to access financing through traditional sources.

Bernie Morgan, chief executive of CDFA, said: “We are delighted to be one of the successful bidders to the Regional Growth Fund, which was a highly competitive process. Thank you to all who helped put the bid together; it was a truly collaborative process. With this fund we can continue our work of creating jobs and providing growth in localities which need it most. We relish the prospect.”

The Regional Growth Fund is a £1.4bn fund that will operate for three years between 2011 and 2014 to stimulate enterprise by providing support for projects and programmes with significant potential for creating long-term private sector-led economic growth and employment.